The Perfectly Imperfect Lie
by Symphony Solider
Summary: Aria thought of herself as a great person. She was nice, loving and caring-she told a lie or two, but none that could hurt anybody. Just little white lies. That's why she did NOT see herself faking the two most important things in her life.
1. You Did WHAT?

**The Perfectly Imperfect Lie**

_Summary-Aria thought of herself as a great person. She was nice, loving and caring-she told a lie or two, but none that could hurt anybody. Just little white lies. That's why she did NOT see herself faking the two most important things in her life._

Gratefully assisted by .soprano

**Chapter 1-You Did WHAT?**

_I apologize in advance for any typos_

**General POV**

"No."

"Aria, please. Pretty, pretty please."

"No, Ezra!"

Ezra crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a small child. "_Why_?" he whined.

"Because it's the single stupidest idea you have had ever. Scratch that; it's the worst idea ever thought of by a living creature _ever_. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Ezra took a deep breath. "Okay, I understand you're angry, but-"

"Angry? You think I'm _angry_? I was angry when you told me your mother was coming this morning at 2:30 a.m. I was _angry _when you told me that we had to get up at 2:30 a.m. to pick her up from the airport. I was _angry_ when you pulled your mother aside telling me you'd be back in a sec and it took you a half hour-"

"Aria, I-"

"Let. Me. Finish," she spat. "But I was pissed off when you waltzed in here, pulled me aside, and told me that you told your mother we were getting married and that I'm pregnant! And you want me to play along? Hell no. You are going to march your ass in there and tell your mother that you are a lying bastard."

"Aria-"

"I'm not finished!" she yelled. "And then I'm going to walk in there, apologize for your stupidity and meet your mother properly. Okay?"

"One problem," Ezra sighed.

Aria groaned. "And what is that?"

"My mother hates your guts."

**FLASHBACK**

"Ezzy, can I see you for just one second, please? It will only take a moment," Sharon Fitz, Ezra's mother whispered in her son's ear after she lay eyes on the young woman Ezra just told her he was seeing. His exact words being, "That's Aria, the one over there holding the magazine. She's beautiful, huh?" Sharon could tell through his voice that Ezra was romantically involved with this woman in some way.

"Sure mom," Ezra smiled. He set his mother's suitcases down at Aria's feet. "Hey, Aria?"

Aria looked up from the magazine she had been staring at for the past 2 hours while she waited for Sharon's plane to land. "Oh! You must be Ezra's mother; it's nice to meet you."

"Can we save introductions for a little later? I just would like to talk to my mom in private? It will only take a second."

"Oh, sure." Aria put on her best smile before Sharon grabbed Ezra's hand and dragged him to a small café in the airport.

Sharon Fitz was a very respectable and very respected woman. She knew what she was doing, and knew when to do it. She knew her place and knew how to put other's in theirs. And that's why when she shoved her son into the corner of a nearly empty coffee shop, she didn't lose her temper. Well, not entirely.

"What the hell?" she spat.

"Mom!"

"What do you think you're doing? You broke up with Jackie less than two years ago and you're already over it? And why is she wearing your clothes? Are you living with her?"

"Um, I think I'm dating a wonderful woman. I didn't break it off with Jackie, she broke it off with me. And yes, she's wearing my clothes because she's living with me. Any more questions?"

"Don't give me that tone, Ezra."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Mom, calm down."

Sharon scoffed, "I don't think so, young man!"

"Mom, I'm twenty-six and we're in an airport. Please don't treat me like I'm sixteen," he begged.

"You're acting like you're sixteen. How old is she anyway? Twenty?"

Ezra's eyes grew wide. This was not the place to be doing this. "Mom, I don't think-"

"Ezra Daniel Fitz you'd better answer my question, _now_."

"Eighteen," Ezra muttered.

"_Excuse me_?" Sharon shrieked. "Did you just say eighteen? She's still in high school?"

"No! She graduated last year; she's a few months into her freshman year at Hollis."

She took a deep breath.

Sharon Fitz wasn't stupid. She was a professor herself, and she knew how to put the pieces together. She knew her son. He didn't just move in with a woman he'd known for a few months. No, he never even lived with Jackie for a day. He knew this woman before. And if her memory served her correctly, Rosewood High, where Ezra had worked a few years back, was the only high school in Rosewood. And Hollis college was a local college. And Rosewood was a small town. Sharon gasped when she figured it out.

"You were seeing her when she was your student, weren't you?"

"Mom, I-"

"Ezra, answer the goddamn question for Christ's sake!"

"Yes, mom," Ezra started, starting to lower his voice. "We did date when she was my student but it's not that big of a deal anymo-"

"Not a big deal!" Sharon gasped. "What is wrong with you? It's a huge deal!"

"Mom-"

"I hate her."

"What?"

"I hate her. She is going to ruin your life just like Jackie did. She doesn't really love you. I hate her," Sharon huffed.

"Who's being sixteen now?" Ezra nearly growled, "Because it sure as hell isn't me!"

"I hate her," Sharon repeated.

"Mom, we love each other more than anything and I can prove it."

Sharon scoffed. "Okay, how?"

Ezra racked his brain for a good excuse. What would convince his mother? His mind flashed to the promise ring he'd given Aria for her 18th birthday. She wore it all of the time, so that was solid, right?

"We're getting married," Ezra smirked triumphantly. That was until he realized what he had said. He meant to say _I want to marry her. _Shit.

"You were getting married to Jackie when she broke it off, Ezzy. You'll need more than that, sweetheart."

Ezra figured he'd taken crazy pills or something. The next thing that popped out of his moth was so much worse than marriage.

"She-she's also pregnant," Ezra blurted out. _WHAT? Where did that come from?_

"Aw, Ezzy!" Sharon hugged her son. "You must really be serious about her. This is exciting! It's about time; your brother has kids, your sisters have kids; well, Ashley does, Mary-Elizabeth doesn't; but she's only 17. Oh my goodness, she and Aria could get along great!" Sharon kept babbling and babbling about how perfect everything was, and Ezra knew everything was about to fall apart.

**END FLASHBACK**

Aria took a deep breath after hearing his story. "I don't like this..."

"Please, please please. We can wait for the wedding. We can have it after you graduate or when you're ready. And we'll think of something with the baby thing. But I need my mother to give you a chance. Please?"

Aria huffed. "Fine; but you are _so _lucky that you are adorable when you beg."

"You-you'll do it? Really? No joke?" Ezra wanted a solid promise.

"Yeah, but I'll only play along with the wedding, okay? But not the baby. We can tell her it was a false alarm."

Ezra was about to respond, but the voice of his mother stopped him from saying anything. "What's a false alarm?"

**Eh, choppy chapter. Oh well. SOOOOOO do you like it? I think it will play out nicely, eh?**

**Obvious cliffy. OBVIOUS. This story will have a lot of lying in it, a lot of sneaking around and A LOT of secrets.**

**Ezra and Aria have obviously already gone public in this fic, but more details about that later.**

**Please review and tell me if you like it. I was EXTREMELY on the fence about posting this, but .soprano convinced me to do so :P So if i don't get at least 5 positive reviews in 5 days, I'm taking it down. :S**

**Review please**

**Love Always,**

**-randomness**


	2. Oh, No He Didn't

**The Perfectly Imperfect Lie**

_Summary-Aria thought of herself as a great person. She was nice, loving and caring-she told a lie or two, but none that could hurt anybody. Just little white lies. That's why she did NOT see herself faking the two most important things in her life._

Gratefully assisted by .soprano

**Chapter 2-Oh, No He Didn't**

_I apologize in advance for any typos_

**General POV**

_Aria took a deep breath after hearing his story. "I don't like this..."_

_"Please, please please. We can wait for the wedding. We can have it after you graduate or when you're ready. And we'll think of something with the baby thing. But I need my mother to give you a chance. Please?"_

_Aria huffed. "Fine; but you are __so __lucky that you are adorable when you beg."_

_"You-you'll do it? Really? No joke?" Ezra wanted a solid promise._

_"Yeah, but I'll only play along with the wedding, okay? But not the baby. We can tell her it was a false alarm."_

_Ezra was about to respond, but the voice of his mother stopped him from saying anything. "What's a false alarm?"_

Aria and Ezra turned around to see a very curious looking Sharon Fitz. Aria made up a lie without skipping a beat, "I was just telling Ezra how I may not be pregnant; I only took the home test and that could always be wrong."

"Oh, don't worry, hun, I bet it's accurate," Sharon patted her stomach.

Aria's mouth almost dropped in shock. She looked _fat_? What the hell? Ezra's signature charm and his habit to always know the right thing to say must come from the other side of the family.

"M, yeah, I guess," she squealed out, giving a small smile.

"You know what? Let's go to my apartment, huh?"

Aria almost punched his shoulder. _His_ apartment? They shared all of the money between his teaching job and her make-shift, part-time jobs at a local thrift store and being a secretary at Rosewood High when the normal one was out. It was _their_apartment, and he would hear about that later.

**PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL**

Sharon Fitz was an organized person. She liked nice things and liked her nice things in top-notch condition. Some would call her type-A, but she just considered it extra tidy. She wasn't all that bad when it came to messes, or clutter, but when the door to her son's apartment opened revealing clothes and books and papers everywhere, she was less than impressed. Her mind flashed to her motherly instincts, as she started to pick up some of the clutter on the floor. It reminded her of when she used to clean after Daniel, Ezra's older brother. Sharon stood a little straighter at her newfound realization. She always cleaned up after Daniel and Ashley, NOT Mary-Elizabeth or Ezra. They were as type-A as people accused Sharon to be. So why was his apartment in such a hazardous state?

"Please excuse the mess." Aria smiled sweetly to the older woman. "My fault." Aria could have sworn she hears Mrs. Fitz mumble, "Of course it is..." or something of that sort under her breath, but she wasn't sure enough of it to call her out on it.

"Yeah, Aria's been stressed out the past couple of days because she has mid-terms and she's been studying like crazy. She barely sleeps and eats anymore."

"That's terrible for the baby," Sharon muttered, picking up a sock and throwing it in the hamper. "Looks like I'll be sleeping in a hotel?"

"No! You can have the bed and I'll take the couch, Mom."

Sharon smiled. Aria was being left out of the picture. "Wonderful!" She glanced at a picture of Aria in her graduation gown, kissing her son square on the lips. He held her graduation cap slightly over her head, as of he'd stolen it moments before. He was also wearing a very nice suit, clean and crisp just as the apartment should be.

The one next to it was a picture of Aria sitting on the hood of Ezra's car, fanning herself mindlessly with something that looked like a map. A smile was playing on her lips as she watched a small girl-who Sharon recognized as her granddaughter, Lily-play around in the open field.

Her attention was brought to a picture of two people-who she assumed to be Ezra and Aria-with paper bags over their heads, each bag with a facial expression drawn on it.

The last was the one Sharon hated the most. Aria was washing a car at what Sharon guessed was a fundraiser car wash for school, with a shocked expression on her face. Ezra was behind her, spraying her with one of the water hoses, laughing with Hardy.

Sharon was going to be sick. Love didn't work like that, it just didn't. It wasn't that… _innocent _and _pure_. She scowled as she ventured away from the picture and into the bathroom.

As soon as Sharon was out of her sight Aria punched Ezra as hard as she could in the shoulder. He yelped, but didn't get a chance to speak. "Okay, that's enough, Ezra. I live here, too, you know? We pay the bills and such together, remember that?" Aria slid the promise ring on her finger off. "You see this? This is proof of all of that shit. I work two jobs for that reason in fact. I deserve a place to sleep here, don't you think?"

"You're never home anyway. Always studying and preparing for midterms," Ezra spat. "Why do you care?"

"I need to sleep! And she's here 'till New Years! Midterms only last 3 more days! You're kicking me to the curb, Ezra, why?"

"Don't you have friends you can stay with?" Ezra asked coldly, not appreciating Aria's non-existent respect for his mother. He only saw her once a year for two weeks, and for the past week and a half he'd been sleeping alone anyway. What did she care?

Aria shoved her promise ring in his face, grabbing her purse and going to the only person who actually cared about her at 5 in the morning.

**PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL**

"Aria? What are you-" Hardy was cut off when Aria ran into his arms, crying softly.

She had found great comfort on hardy over the past few years. He had moved into an apartment complex a few weeks after Ezra got his job at Hollis, and he worked as a lawyer at the same firm as Spencer's mother.

Aria noticed after a minute or two of crying that Hardy had led her to his couch. She also noticed she was ruining a perfectly good suit with her tears.

"Aria, please tell me what's wrong. Did Ezra do something? Or is he hurt? Oh my god is Ezra hurt because that would mean that-"

"No, he's just a son of a bitch-literally."

"What do you mean?" Aria looked up at him, giving him a "_be serious"_ look. "Ooh, I gotcha. His mom's really nice, though."

"She hates me," Aria said. Once she said it out loud her words hit her like a ton of bricks. His mom _hated _her. She just clutched tighter to Hardy and explained all that had happened in between sobs.

"I'm sorry," he apologized when she'd finished.

"I-I don't know wh-what to do," Aria cried.

Aria Montgomery was never a crier. She barely shed a tear at Ali's death. But she was being pushed over the edge right now. The man she loves' mother hates her, and Ezra's taking his mother's side and basically tossed her out of the apartment. Hardy just shushed her and held her a little while longer.

"Thank you for being here for me," she sniffled. She brought her lips to his, giving him a thank you kiss. It turned into more faster than she'd thought it would, but it was filling the empty void in her momentarily.

"We need to stop," Hardy whispered as he played with the ends of her shirt. "He's by best friend, Aria." Aria just kissed him harder, and Hardy sadly responded. It's as if he was working against himself. He couldn't help it, it felt right, or at least, it felt right now. "Your promise ring, it holds the same principle as an engagement ring, Aria."

Aria held up her hand and revealed that the ring was gone. "I gave it back during our fight."

Hardy smiled and kissed her again, slipping her shirt off afterwards.

_They are so screwed…_

**Different kind of cliffy… I don't know how I feel about it. NO, SHE WON'T GET PREGNANT WITH HIS KID. Jeez, that plot is so overused.**

**I included Hardy because I love him. And I couldn't resist, I had to make him a lawyer. If you understand why I love you. If you don't oh well, you don't watch good TV. Hahaha jk**

**Yeah, I had to include a fight, next chapter is makeup chapter! Should Hardy And Aria come clean about their little… encounter? Or keep it to themselves? O.o**

**I didn't really proofread this at all so I'll probably be re-uploading later :3**

**Review please!**

**Love Always,**

**-randomness**


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